Airship



F. B. CLARK June 22, 1937.

AIRSHIP Original Filed June 26, 1933 Patented June 22, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 26, 1933, Serial No. 677,711 Renewed May 15, 1938 11 Claims. (Cl. 24430) in particular include the strength of the body structure, its stability and steadiness in flight, reduction of air resistance in flight and facility or ease and convenience in landing and mooring or anchorage. Other advantages will be evident from an understanding of the construction shown in the drawing as one embodiment of my invention and hereinafter described in detail and will be understood by those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in whatever is described by or is included within the terms or scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a. side elevation of such an airship embodying my invention with portions of the body or hull structure skin broken away to show the internal structure;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2--2 of The body Ill includes a skin or external wall of suitable material and an internal hollow frame work I00 made as light' as possible consistent with strength. The frame I00 may comprise longitudinally extending and spaced apart ribs that reach from nose to stem and circular transverse ribs, or any other approved construction. Externally, the nose H is blunt and is substantially or approximately semi-spherical as that form reduces to the minimum forward air resistance; and fromvthe nose rearwardly for a considerable portion of the length of the body, it has externally a cylindrical form with the top surface straight and horizontal to the stern which is convexly rounded, but on a curve of a radius considerably less than the radius curve of the nose. The lines of contour at the bottom of the body III are straight and horizontal from the nose rearwardly but terminate at a shorter distance from the stern than atthe top, andfrom thence the bottom surface and the contiguous side surfaces of the body extend rearwardly and upwardly on a slight convex curve until they mergeinto the before-mentioned convex formation at the stern, thus giving a stream-line form which reduces to the minimum pressure conditions at the stern which would impede forward movement of the ship.

The keel I 2 is formed by a central longitudinally projecting extensionfrom the body bottom and is hoilow withfsiiiiicient space to provide within it a cabin ll, so that thezlatter is thus enclosed within or forms a part of the keel and is not an appendage such as is the case with the ordinary gondola. The space within the keel may ailord room for the motors and other necessary machinery for the ship's propulsion, if desired, and for the handling of the ship. The cabin portion bottom of the keel extends substantially or approximately horizontal, and from the rear end of the cabin, the keel extends upwardly and rearwardly on a slightly convexly curved line until it joins and merges in the bottom of the body where the latter curves upwardly or to lower straight horizontal surfaces of the body. The forward end of the cabin is a distance substantially in rear ofthe front end of'the nose, and to diminish air resistance, the

front end of the keel starting tangent with the underside of the nose inclines downwardly and rearwardly and curves convexly at the front end of the cabin.

As will be seen by reference to Fig. 2, the keel in cross-section tapers downward from the underside of the body and each side surface of the keel at-the top is joined with the adjacent side surface of the body by a surface which is a compound curve with a concave portion merging or joining with the keel side, thus providing a longitudinally extending channel or tunnel M at the underside of the ship and co-extensive with the length of the keel where it adjoins the body ill, the other portion of the compound curve being convex. Thus by the keel and the curvilinear formation of the underside of the body, which provides vertically extending surfaces and horizontally extending surfaces of considerable area, tendency of the ship to rock or turn on a horizontal or vertical axis is effectually resisted even under very adverse weather conditions and stability and steadiness of the ship in flight are assured. Fore and aft pitching is also prevented by these under surfaces of the body which extend substantially horizontally from the keel. And the keel opposes sidewise drifting of the ship.

Manifestly, the above construction produces in eflect an integral construction of body and cabin, the latter containing or embodying portion of the keel and with the obvious advantage of the cabin, being inclosed in the keel gives strength and stillness to the body structure. Also stiffness and strength are contributed by the form of the body which includes'the cylindrical portion between nose and stem, as has been above set forth, because it permits a shorter total length of the ship compared with one of conventional cigar shape or form, and thereby removes the danger of collapse or breakage which is inseparably incident to a body structure of great length under weather conditions, which result in great leverage action upon the structure.

' The substantially horizontally extending curved I surfaces, where the keel adjoins the body and which provide the channels or tunnels I, add to 4 the quantity of energy required to be expended in propulsion of the ship due to secondary reactions when either climbing or cruising. The

propellers I5 may be disposed on each side of the keel, preferably within or under the tunnels Id (Fig. 2),, and may be separately driven,-or collectively driven as shown from the horizontal shafts l6, suitably supported by brackets or arms i1, and connected with the engine driven shaft l8, within the hollow keel. This. means for driving the propellers is only an exemplary showing, but any suitable means may be provided (the manner of driving being immaterial). and there may be as many propellers as desired or the propellers and/or their motors may be in gondolas.

One of the important features in this invention resides in the fact that the blunt nose i l, as above described, permits the ship to have more gas in its foremost end'thus sustaining moreiyeight at such end of the ship. Because of this fact, propellers l5a (which in the present showing is the foremostof a plurality of propellers used on each side of the ship) are disposed under or immediately in ,back of the nose of the ship, as shown, whereby the nose of the ship may be held into the wind and prevented from yawing, swinging or drifting out of the wind, thus enabling the ship to be kept on course and to be driven through high winds and storms. Manifestly, the present construction permits the propeller means to be placed in the most advantageous part of the ship, that is under the nose or immediately to the rear thereof, to obtain greater driving force for the ship and enabling the ship to keep its nose on course under adverse conditions.

Of course, the body frameworkset includes or comprises an extension into the keel for the skin or cover which constitutes the enclosing wall of of the gas may be regulated or controlled and also snow may be melted and ice accumulation prevented.

It will be'observed that beneath the cylindrical gas bag ii! at the bottom on each side there is a longitudinally extending chamber or space just above each tunnel l4 and provided, in fact, by the or pivoted "on a horizontal pivot so that it may aoeaeee be moved up and down to control the direction of flight, suitable connections with the cabin being provided not necessary, however, to be shown in the drawing.

On the underside of the body at the stern is a vertical rudder 23, hinged at its forward edge to I a keel-like extension 24, and no other rudder arrangement for directing the course of the ship by sidewise movement is necessary. It is not necessary to illustrate the rudder connectionswith the cabin controls.

To eliminate the necessity for the dangerous and diflicult use of a mooring mast, I provide my ship with an anchor or grapple 25, attached to one end of a cable 26, that passes from a windla'ss within the cabin through a hole in the cabin, the anchor being formed for grappling with the earth or appropriate objects thereon. And preferably, I provide a platform or car 21, that may be lowered from within the cabin which is suspended by cables 28, that run to a Windlass within the cabin. Thus, descent and ascent may readily be eifected of persons, as for example, members of the crew concerned in reaching or being on the ground for anchorage or other purposes.

Besides the practical and functional advantages from the-embodiment of my invention, the

ship's contours result in a gracefully and artistic object, and hence, I am entitled to protection of my invention as a designfor a new, original, and ornamental design for airships in addition to its advantageous utilitarian features.

What I claim is:

1. An airship of the lighter-thanair type having an elongated buoyant body with a blunt convexly curved nose and which is substantially cylindrical from the nose rearward for a substantial portion of the lengthof the body, .the lines from the nose rearward being horizontal over the entire cylindrical portion of the body-those at the bottom being shortest and from the latter the body tapering upward and rearward to the stern 2. An airship as set forth in claim 1, further characterized by the stern being convexly rounded on a curve of substantially less radius than the curve of the nose.

3. An airship as set forth in claim 1 further characterized by the body having a cabin-containing hollow keel on its under side, the body and keel surfaces being continuous, and the outer surface at each side of the body adjacent the keel being on a compound curve with the inner portion of the curve concaved and adjacent the keel and underlying the body to provide a tunnel on each side of the keel with surfaces substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the body for a substantial distance of its length, and the outer portion of the compound curve being convex and curving upwardly from the concaved portion and being tangentto the major curvature of the body.

4. -An airship of the lighter-than-air type having an elongated buoyant body with a substantially hemispherical convex nose and which body is substantially cylindrical from the nose rearwardly for a substantial portion of its length, a cabin-containing'keel depending from the underside of said body and extending from the nose for a substantial distance rearwardly thereof, the

body and keel surfaces being continuous, the lines of the body from'the nose rearwardlybeing substantiallyhorizontal over the entire cylindrical portion of the body and those at the bottom being shortest and from the latter the body tapering upwardly and rearwardly to the stem, the rear portion of the keel at its bottom inclining upthelength of the body from the nose thereof, the

skin of the body and keel being a substantially continuous surface, the surface of the body on each side of the ship between said body and said keel protruding laterally outward and substantially horizontally with respect to the keel portion on a continuous curve to provide an air tunnel or channel on each side of the keel and with surfaces substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the body for a substantial distance of its length.

6. An airship as set forth in claim 5 further characterized by said body having a blunt convexly curved nose and which body is substantially cylindrical from the nose rearwardly. for a substantial portion of its length, the lines of the body from the nose rearwardly being substantially horizontal and those at the bottom being shortest and from the latter the body tapers upwardly and rearwardly to the stem, the rear portion of the keel at its bottom inclining upwardly and rearwardly from a point approximately midship of the body and joining-said upwardly tapering lines with the body.

7. An airship of the lighter-than-air type having an elongated buoyant body with a substantially hemispherically convex nose, a keel depending from the underside of and wholly beyond the major curvature of the body and extending from the nose rearwardly for a substantial distance of the length of thebody, the portions of the body on each side of the ship and between the body and the keel extending substantially laterally and outwardly from the keel on a compounded reverse curve abrupt relative to the curvature of the body to form air tunnels, and

propellers on each side of the keel and under said laterally extending portions of said body.

8. An airship of the lighter-than-air type having an elongated normally horizontal buoyant body and a cabincontaining hollow keel depending from the under side of buoyant body, the body and keel surfaces being substantially continuous, and the outer surfaces at each side of the ship between the keel and body being on a compounded reverse curve, the portion of said curve that is tangent to the keel being a concaved abrupt are forming a substantial segment of a tunnel and underlying the body, and the other portion of 5: .id compounded reverse curve that is tangent to the major curvature of the body being a convexed abrupt arc and completing the tunnel and the transition to the major curvature of the ship, whereby atunnel is provided on each side of the keel with surfaces substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the body for a substantial distance of its length.

9. An airship as set forth in claim 8 further characterized by driving propellers located under the spaces formed by said concave portions of said compounded reverse curves.

10. An airship of the lighter-than-air type having an elongated buoyant body having a cabincontaining keel projecting from its under side beyond the major circumference of the body, said body having a blunt convexly curved nose and which body is substantially cylindrical from the nose and which body is substantially cylindrical from the lines of the body from the nose rearwardly being substantially horizontal and those at the bottom being'shortest and from the latter the body tapers upwardly and rearwardly to the stem, the rear portion of the keel at its bottom inclining upwardly and rearwardly from a point approximately midship of the body and joining said upwardly tapering lines with the body.

11. An airship of the lighter-than-air type, as

- set forth in claim 7, further characterized by cer- 

